


Forgotten Princess

by DancerWinner_RAYLLUM4EVER



Series: Always Your Friend [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancerWinner_RAYLLUM4EVER/pseuds/DancerWinner_RAYLLUM4EVER
Summary: Force Captain Adora has been looking forward to being out in the field, helping to bring the Horde to victory, but her goals are delayed when she wakes up from an experience she can't remember. Adora is told that she has gone through an ordeal that few come back from alive, and that a part of her memory has been blocked to protect her sanity. She knows that the full truth is being kept from her, but has no suspicion that there could be any reason beyond keeping her protected from whatever happened to her.Now Adora has no less than a princess as her prisoner and a nearly impossible survival under her belt. She is ready to lead in the Horde, until a secret is revealed that makes her question herself. Eventually, Adora finds herself on a mission to find out the truth of what happened before her memory loss, and discovers the lies she has been told about the world, and about her own identity.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Always Your Friend [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900894
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	1. Prologue

Alarms rang loud overhead, accompanied by red flashing lights in the ceiling. Adora looked behind her, the shadows of several Horde soldiers revealing the sheer number of people after them. The group ran through hallways and around corners, accompanied by the loud clanking of the bot’s- Emily’s- legs on the hard floor.  
They stopped just in front of a sealed entrance, and Adora glanced nervously at the keypad beside it. She didn’t know the current code to open the door. Entrapta stepped in front of it and lowered her mask. A long wire extended from somewhere in her hair and connected to the keypad, then the long, purple strands began pressing buttons.  
“Can you get it open?” Adora asked the princess.  
“I just need a little more time!” she responded, her voice echoing slightly against the metal over her face.  
Adora glanced back again. The shouting of soldiers got closer, and she wasn’t sure if they even had more time.  
After what seemed like an agonizingly long moment, Entrapta let out a triumphant laugh. The door separated into top and bottom parts that disappeared into the wall.  
“This vent system leads to the vehicle bay where you can steal a skiff.” Adora told the others as they ran inside. The next keypad Adora typed into as quickly as her fingers would let her. Another entrance opened before them. “Each chamber needs to be sealed and purged before you can move on to the next one. The doors will only stay open for a few seconds, so keep up the pace.” In other words, they had to hurry through as fast as they could.  
The rest of the group rushed past Adora into the next chamber. She didn’t follow them, instead staying where she was for a second to give herself the courage to do what had to be done next. She began to move away from the others.  
“Adora, what are you doing?” Bow’s voice asked from behind her.  
“Don’t worry about me.” Adora turned back towards her friends. “I’m gonna buy you some time and find Glimmer. I’ll meet you there, okay?” She wasn’t entirely sure she would be able to keep to her word on that, but she had to try.  
Adora turned away as Bow shouted her name, smashing the keypad so the heavy doors closed shut behind her.  
“Adora!” her friend’s voice called from the other side, banging on the door.  
Get away! Adora silently urged. Run! She could hear the loud noises of the chamber closing and getting purged. She desperately hoped Bow had gotten out in time.  
Adora raised her head and walked down the corridor, towards rows of heavily armed Horde soldiers. She raised her hands to show she was unarmed and with a voice as even as she could make it, said: “I surrender. Take me to see Shadow Weaver.”  
Two of the soldiers approached her and forced her hands behind her back. Adora didn’t resist as they escorted her to the Black Garnet chamber. Soon they entered the room, and Adora gasped at the first thing she saw.  
“Glimmer!” The princess of Bright Moon looked awful. She was being held in place by red electricity that could only be from Shadow Weaver’s stolen magic, which gave her an unusual red aura. Her Princess Prom dress was tattered, her hair messy, and she looked tired.  
“Glimmer, I’m here.” Adora assured, despite not knowing if the princess could even hear her or not. The soldiers brought her to a metal table as she spoke. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay. I’ll save you!” She was put on top of the table, and firm restraints immediately engaged, holding her to the table as it rose to a vertical standing position.  
That’s when Adora noticed the person whose fault this was standing across the room. “What have you done to her?” She asked Catra angrily.  
Before Catra could respond, Shadow Weaver drifted into view from the darkest part of the room. “Leave us.” she commanded the guards. As the guards did just that she turned and spoke to Catra.  
“Report to the Force Captain barracks and pack your things. Now that Adora is back, there’s no need for you there.”  
It was then that Adora realized Shadow Weaver’s plan. She wanted Adora to stay in the Fright Zone?  
“Seriously?” Catra asked, obviously feeling betrayed. “After everything I’ve done for you, it’s still her you want?”  
“I said go!” Shadow Weaver grabbed Catra’s arm and heartlessly pushed her towards the door.  
The feline girl glanced back towards Shadow Weaver, then to Adora. For a second, Adora thought Catra would defy Shadow Weaver. Her hopes were dashed when Catra shot her one last angry look before the door closed.  
Adora sighed. If it was her Shadow Weaver wanted, fine.  
“Shadow Weaver, I’ll stay here with you willingly,” Adora had to force the words from her mouth, but she knew it needed to be said so she kept going. “But you have to let Glimmer go first.”  
“Adora, no.” A breathless voice spoke behind her.  
Adora reached behind her to see her friend. “Glimmer, are you okay?”  
“You are correct, Adora.” Shadow Weaver drew her attention away from the princess. “You shall stay willingly, because I am going to wipe your mind.” The woman placed a hand on Adora’s cheek softly but firmly, emphasizing that Adora didn’t have a say in the matter. Adora stared at her in horror. Wipe my mind?! Can she even do that?  
“You’ll have no memory of She-Ra, or the time you spent with the Rebellion. Everything will be as it once was.” Shadow Weaver drifted back and placed her hands together in front of her chest. Just as quickly, she separated them. The same red electricity as what held Glimmer appeared, sparking in her grasp.  
Adora’s terror grew with each word Shadow Weaver spoke. The woman leaned uncomfortably close and brought her hands to Adora’s head. “As for the princess, once I’m done, you’ll be happy to have her as your prisoner.” With those last words she clasped her hands onto the side of Adora’s head.  
NO! Immediately the magic began to do it’s job. Dark energy coursed through Adora’s mind and body, making her shout in pain.  
“No. Adora!” Glimmer’s cry was barely audible. Adora’s eyes shut tight as she tried to resist to no avail. All she felt was dark magic, and lots of pain as her mind was bombarded with shadowy presences.  
No! No no no no no no no! Adora felt like she was being struck by a thousand bolts of lightning each second. Everything burned like it was on fire; her head, her limbs down to her fingers and toes, even her throat was already starting to strain from shouting. Magic drained her energy faster than she could ever comprehend, yet still more kept coming. The pain and magic made it hard to think straight. She could feel something invading her mind, targeting her memories. No! You can’t… you can’t do this! Images and thoughts slipped from her grasp like water between her fingers. Glimmer… and Bow… and the Princess Alliance… all dissipated into shadows until she was trying to remember what those names belonged to. Then even the names were gone. Some brightly-dressed people… a sword… a palace… a, sword? Adora tried desperately to grab hold of something, anything, to stop what was going on. I- I need to remember! she thought desperately. She needed to remember what she was forgetting! It was important. More and more slipped into the shadows in her mind. What was she trying to remember? She needed to know, it was important! Why, she didn’t know. I need to know… know what?! Why was Shadow Weaver doing this? It was for a reason, one that she’d known before. She was… wiping her mind, right? No, that couldn’t be right. Then what was going on? Why was there such darkness invading her mind? Was that… Shadow Weaver holding her head? What was she doing? Is she helping me? For some reason that didn’t seem right… Everything hurt so badly Adora wanted to pass out, yet it was as if whatever was doing this to her was forcing her to stay conscious. Like it needed an active mind to complete… whatever it was doing. What was it doing? Why did everything hurt so much?! Who’s… doing this? Make… it… stop!… Adora’s thoughts became slow and blurry, like something was trying to stop them from forming. Soon she couldn’t even create a clear thought, or remember anything beyond the exact instant she was in. It hurt so much, and all of her energy was gone. Why?! She couldn’t handle the agony. She wanted to lose consciousness, collapse, beg to make it stop. Yet she couldn’t. Something was keeping her upright and awake. She couldn’t even scream for help! The pain was so unbearable, she didn’t know if she was even still alive!  
For one blissful second, the grip on her face disappeared and so did the shadows. Several memories came back at once, Adora couldn’t focus on any one of them.  
Then the grip was back. The shadows snapped back into place and brought whatever was released with then. Adora let out one last scream, much louder than any sound she’d ever heard, despite it seeming muffled to her ears. The only thing that occupied her mind was terrible, agonizing pain.  
It was gone as quickly as it came, and then it was over. Finally, Adora was able to slip into blissful emptiness.

Glimmer greedily sucked in air, breathless after the energy it had taken to break out of that awful prison.  
Shadow Weaver lay on the floor in front of Glimmer, unmoving after her attack. However, it wasn’t her that Glimmer was worried about. Her friend’s awful screaming had been bad enough without knowing what was happening to her, and that last one had left her ears ringing.  
“Adora!” Glimmer turned to look at her friend, still strapped to the metal table. “Are you okay?” She rushed over to remove the restraints. While doing so, the princess looked at her friend in concern. “Do you know who I am?”  
The second the restraints were off Adora collapsed, and Glimmer barely caught her in time to stop her from hitting the ground.  
“Adora!” Glimmer gently placed her on the floor and tried to shake her awake. She called her name again, as if that might help.  
Adora lay there, unresponsive to Glimmer’s attempts to reach her.  
Glimmer grabbed her friend by the arms and tried to teleport. It seemed to work for a second, then it didn’t.  
“Ugh- Aah!” Glimmer yelled in pain as dark magic encased her again. That didn’t make sense, she’d escaped Shadow Weaver’s prison, so why was this still happening? Worse, she couldn’t teleport!  
Back in Dryl, Glimmer had had to carry Adora around when she was infected. Now she’d have to carry Adora out of the Fright Zone, while she was unconscious, and Glimmer was exhausted and her magic was gone. It was a desperate situation, but she didn’t know what else to do.  
With effort, she lifted Adora off the ground and began making her way towards where she might be able to find a way out. She managed to make it a couple hallways down when she was intercepted by Horde guards, and in no time she was overpowered and brought back to the Black Garnet chamber. Adora was taken away somewhere else, Glimmer didn’t know where.  
“What did you do to her?!” Glimmer demanded Shadow Weaver, who was just then recovering from Glimmer’s attack. She struggled uselessly against the guards holding her to no avail.  
“Oh, princess,” Shadow Weaver’s voice was smooth, but deadly, as if laced with poison. “You know what I was doing and I succeeded.”


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora knows something is wrong.  
> Bow is determined to rescue his friends.

Adora was in a training simulation, like the one she went through every day. A holographic image appeared in front of one of the bots. It was a princess, smiling evilly down at her. Adora readied her staff and charged the bot like she’d done countless times before.

As she approached the holographic princess, it morphed. It took shape, becoming much more real than a hologram. It got pink-and-purple sparkly hair, matching clothes, and a sparkly blue cape behind it. No, not it,  _ her _ . She looked like a person, albeit with way more sparkles than Adora thought possible.

Adora stopped in her tracks, staff gone from her hands, as the princess looked straight at her. She seemed terrified.

“Adora! Are you okay?” The princess called desperately, reaching towards her. Adora backed up in fear. What was she talking about?

“Do you know who I am?” The princess asked. 

A searing headache ripped through Adora. She crumpled to the ground, hands clutching her head.

_ Do you know who I am?  _ No, she didn’t. She should. Adora didn’t know why, but she felt the overwhelming pressure that she needed to know who this person was. Adora racked her brain of anything she might remember about this princess. She came up with nothing, not even a name. All that came to mind when she tried thinking of this person was pure nothingness, like a shadow of a memory she couldn’t reach.

“Adora!” The princess’s voice faded farther and farther away, like she was fading from existence.

_ Glimmer!  _ The word stuck in her throat. Adora had no idea where it came from, but it had some relation to the princess. Something with her sparkles, maybe?

She felt the scene change around her. Adora looked up to see something coming at her,  _ fast _ . She couldn’t move in time before it hit her. A net sprang around her, and she couldn’t move.

“Adora, what are you doing?” a voice spoke from in front of her. A boy in crop top armor, and a  _ Bow _ in his hand, approached Adora.

_What?_ The thought was muffled by her awful headache. Wasn’t he the one who’d imprisoned her in this net? Yet _he_ was asking her what _she_ was doing?

“Adora, come back!” The boy ran towards her, but got farther away with each step.

The net dissolved around her, and Adora was encased in stifling darkness. Some unseen force was keeping her in place. No matter how much she struggled against it, she couldn’t break free.

_ I have to get out of here! _ she thought desperately.  _ Let me out! _

An ominous voice spoke from around her. Adora couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from, because it seemed to be everywhere.

_ You shall stay willingly, _ the voice seemed to tell her, _ because I am going to wipe your mind. _

“NO!” Adora jerked up in her bed. She sucked in air in quick gasps, unable to steady herself. She was breathless, and shaking uncontrollably, and her head hurt-

_ Calm down. _ She told herself. Slowly, Adora managed to steady her breathing. She wasn’t in any immediate danger. She was in a bed, in a small room without anyone else around. The unfamiliarity didn’t help much, since Adora wasn’t used to sleeping without anyone else around. Where even was she?

She raised a hand to her head. Her hair fell in front of her face; her elastic must’ve fallen out while she was asleep. Adora didn’t pay it any attention. She closed her eyes. She’d been having a dream, what was it about?

Adora couldn’t remember.

Her hair was a mess. She turned and grabbed her elastic from beside her pillow and tied her hair back. She got up and grabbed her jacket from beside her bed.

_ What’s the last thing I remember? _ Adora thought as she did this. Before the dream… 

Pinned to the jacket was a hexagonal badge with the Horde symbol on it. Of course! Adora had been promoted to Force Captain. She remembered Shadow Weaver presenting her with the badge. She had looked out towards the rest of the Fright Zone.  _ Is this not what you’ve wanted since you were old enough to want anything?  _ Shadow Weaver had asked her. After that, nothing.

Adora needed water. Her throat felt like rusty metal. Had she been screaming? That’s what it felt like, though she didn’t know why. She quickly slipped on her jacket and put her belt on as she went to grab a drink from across the room. Once finished, Adora looked into the mirror.

She looked… off. She seemed distant, almost frightened. She didn’t look like her.

Adora clenched her fist. She was Force Captain Adora. Despite whatever was going on, she would be strong, showing no weakness.

She inspected her reflection again, and a smile formed on her face. There she was.

Adora took a deep breath and walked towards the doorway. She didn’t get there before a familiar figure blocked the entrance.

“Shadow Weaver!” Adora stood straight and gave a salute.

“Adora.” Shadow Weaver greeted. “I’m glad to see you’re back on your feet. Come with me.”

Shadow Weaver turned away before Adora could respond. Adora followed her out of the room.

None of those who’d escaped the Fright Zone had been looking forward to telling the queen of Bright Moon about the outcome of the mission, especially since her daughter was still in the Horde’s custody.

“Your majesty, we can rescue both of them.” Bow assured Queen Angella. The remaining Princess Alliance, Bow, and the queen were gathered in the war room to discuss what to do next. “We can go back-”

“No.” The queen told them. “I will not risk anyone else to be lost.”

“Then, what  _ are _ we going to do?” Bow asked.

The queen looked out a nearby window at the kingdom of Bright Moon. “Before Adora left to save you and Glimmer, the Horde offered a deal. If I surrendered myself, I could get Glimmer back. Maybe… maybe now they will still accept if I did, and return Adora to us as well.”

“Your majesty, you can’t-”

“It’s decided.” Queen Angella said this with finality, and left the war room without another word.

Bow looked over at Perfuma and Mermista. Entrapta’s chair sat between them, poignantly deserted.

“I suppose that’s it then.” Mermista said. Her usual monotone voice had an undertone of sadness in it. “Maybe there’s a reason the Princess Alliance fell apart before.”

“Come on, we can’t give up now!” Bow pleaded with them. “We can still help Glimmer and Adora!”

“Didn’t you just hear what the queen  _ said _ ?” Mermista shot back.

Bow didn’t respond. He didn’t want to admit that disobeying Queen Angella’s orders wasn't exactly new to him.

“Come on, guys!” Swift Wind said from behind Bow’s chair, startling him. “Adora needs us!”

While they were gone, their horse from Thaymor had arrived at Bright Moon. He insisted that Adora needed his help, that he was bonded with her since she’d transformed him. Apparently his bond had seemed to get weaker just before the others had arrived, definitely not a good sign.

More importantly, he could talk.

THE.

HORSE.

COULD.

_ TALK _ !!

AND HE HAD WINGS! AND HE WAS CONNECTED TO ADORA SOMEHOW… Bow and the others had needed a few moments to freak out before Swift Wind could actually manage to tell them anything without getting interrupted.

“Swift Wind is right.” Perfuma spoke up. The others looked over at her in surprise. The flower princess had been unusually quiet during the meeting.

“There are still two of our friends who need our help. We can’t just abandon them there.” Perfuma continued. “If there is a chance we can get them back, then I’m with Bow. I say we try one more time to save Glimmer and Adora.”

Bow felt like hugging Perfuma. He knew that she’d been really discouraged after losing so many friends on the mission, so that had been really brave of her to speak up. He settled for sending a smile her way. “Thanks, Perfuma.”

Mermista groaned. “We lost  _ really _ badly, and we’re even worse off now. Why would this time be any better?”

Bow didn’t have an answer to that. The Princess Alliance had gone to the Fright Zone in the first place to rescue Glimmer and Bow. Adora had stayed behind.  _ “Don’t worry about me.”  _ Adora had told them. _ “I’m gonna buy you some time and find Glimmer. I’ll meet you there, okay?”  _ Yet neither of them had shown up. Eventually the others had to leave without them or risk getting discovered with the stolen skiff. They didn’t know if Adora had ever reached the Black Garnet chamber, or if she was even… if her fate had differed from Entrapta’s. The princess of Dryl had been lost during the escape, engulfed in green flames while one of the chambers they’d gone through was purged.

‘We did lose a lot,” Bow said softly, “But that doesn’t mean we should give up. If there’s even a chance we could save our friends, we have to take it. I know this seems hopeless, but we should at least try.”

Mermista gazed down at the table. Bow was sure she was about to decline, maybe even leave the Princess Alliance. Then, she said something he wasn’t expecting.

“She-Ra helped save my kingdom. I guess it’s time I return the favor.” the mermaid princess looked up, meeting the gaze of the other two rebels. “If the queen surrenders, we lose. I’ll help you.”

“Then it’s agreed?” Bow asked. “We’ll go back and save Glimmer and Adora?”

The princesses nodded.

“On one condition.” Mermista said. “ _ No. Sewers. _ ”

Adora stared out at the Fright Zone, still processing what Shadow Weaver had told her.

Apparently during Adora’s first mission (the siege of Thaymor), she’d been captured by rebels. It had happened while she was protecting her fellow soldiers. Shadow Weaver hand insisted they bring her back, and that had been her team’s first mission. Eventually they’d been able to rescue her. Shadow Weaver had been forced to block her memories as the rebellion’s prisoner. If she had been able to remember what had happened to her as the rebellion’s captive, it might’ve broken her mind. She’d been reassured that her capture wasn’t a show of weakness. “Quite the contrary. Through your actions we were able to conquer Thaymor. Even during the mission to rescue you, I am told you were able to take down a princess yourself despite your… state.” Shadow Weaver told her. The way she dodged talking about what happened to her, Adora figured she didn’t want to know.

_ If I was  _ captured, _ what kind of Force Captain does that make me? _ Adora shook the thought from her head.  _ You heard what Shadow Weaver said. _ Right now she just wanted to see her friends. They must’ve missed her a lot. Especially Catra… Adora  _ really _ wanted to see her best friend.

Adora took a deep breath and collected herself. Then she moved away from the window, and towards the locker rooms.

She was just outside the doors when she could hear the usual chatter from her teammates. She began to smile, then froze when she began to make out what they were saying.

“-and Shadow Weaver thinks we can just  _ take her back _ ?!” Lonnie’s voice said from inside. “What is she even thinking?”

“Well, maybe it will be different this ti-”

“Seriously, Kyle? Why would now be  _ any _ different?”

“Well-”

“Will you guys shut up? It’s no use complaining about it.” Catra spoke up this time, her voice sounding… bitter. “We might as well just deal with it.” she seethed.

“Oh, come on, Catra! You of all people should be with me on this! Although, I suppose it’s all good for you, since you two were so-”

“Will you  _ shut up _ ?! I, of all people, should be the one complaining about this. But I’m not because there’s nothing I can do about it! So you might as well just  _ deal with it _ !”

Were they talking about Adora?  _ No, that doesn’t make sense, these are my friends! _

Adora shook her head and entered the locker room. As soon as she appeared in the doorway, all conversation stopped. Four pairs of eyes were now fixed on her.

“Um, hey.” Adora smiled uneasily and gave a small wave.

Kyle was the only one who smiled back. “Hi Ador-” He was immediately silenced by a harsh look from Lonnie.

“Let’s go.” the girl told the two guys. They pushed past Adora and left the room. Kyle shot her an apologetic look before following along.

“Okay,” Adora muttered.  _ That was weird. _ She looked over to where Catra sat on the other side of the room, her back to Adora.

“Hey,” she said, walking over to where the feline girl sat.

“Hi, Adora.” Catra stood up. She avoided Adora as she headed towards the exit.

“Catra?” Adora asked carefully. “Is something wrong?”

Catra stopped in her tracks. Then she turned towards Adora and scoffed. “Why would it be? You’re back with your  _ promotion _ . Why would  _ anything _ be wrong?”

Adora stood still as her best friend left without another word.  _ You’re back… why would  _ anything _ be wrong? _

Something was definitely wrong, and for some reason, it had to do with Adora’s return.


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rescue goes great... until it doesn't.

Bow didn't like going back to the Fright Zone so soon after being held captive there. He’d been held in a cell with nothing to do except sit on the bench which was the only thing in the cell, or try and force his way out by weakening the force field door (which didn’t work). He had gotten lots of time to think, and to worry. He hadn’t known whether or not Glimmer was okay or where she was even being held. The only way to find out anything that was going on had been through some Horde kid named Kyle, who hadn’t even given him any information the first time they’d talked. Later he’d told Bow that Glimmer was being kept in the Black Garnet chamber and confirmed she was alive, then proceeded to vent about his problems. Bow probably should’ve felt sorry for the kid, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to since he was being held prisoner and didn’t really have a choice but hear what he had to say. When Sea Hawk had freed him from the cell and Bow had been reunited with the others, he actually held out hope that everything would be fine.

Unfortunately, everything wasn’t fine. Now Bow was back, but this time he was here to rescue his friends.

The plan was simple (since Adora wasn’t there to make said plan). Bow and Mermista would sneak in so Bow could hack into the database and find out where the Black Garnet chamber was, since that was where Glimmer was being held the last time they were there. Perfuma and Sea Hawk would wait nearby to ward off anyone who might try and stop them. When Bow found out where the Black Garnet chamber was, they’d go and try to rescue Glimmer. Hopefully they’d figure out where Adora was when they freed Glimmer. If not, well, they’d cross that bridge when they got to it.

Bow could only hope  _ something  _ could turn out right this time.

“Any luck?” Mermista asked, glancing nervously towards where the others had stayed behind to fend off Horde soldiers. “We don’t have much time!”

“I’m trying.” Bow said, typing furiously into a keypad. “This database is a lot more complicated than I thought, and I’m not familiar with the Fright Zone’s systems.”  _ If Entrapta were here this would be a lot… Focus, Bow! _ He just needed a map, or some other way to find Glimmer. He worked his way through multiple systems, looking for anything that might help, when something caught his eye.

“Wait, I think I found something.”

“Well, hurry!”

Bow navigated through the systems to find something he definitely didn’t expect.

“She’s in the Fright Zone prison!” Bow exclaimed. “Section D level 14.”

“Isn’t she supposed to be in the Black Garnet chamber?”

“Apparently not.” Bow searched through the database some more. “I can’t find Adora in here.”

“Mermista! Bow!” Sea Hawk ran towards them, Perfuma right behind him.

“We really need to hurry.” Perfuma encouraged. “Someone raised the alarm. Soon the entire Fright Zone will know we’re here!”

“We need to head to the prison.” Bow told the other two.

“What? Why?” Perfuma asked.

“Because Glimmer’s in there for whatever reason.” Mermista responded.

“C’mon!” Bow urged and the four of them ran in the opposite direction they came from.

Soon they got to the outside of the prison building.

“How are we going to get in?” Perfuma whispered as they hid behind some rusted machinery.

“We’ll have to secure the guards, then see how we can get in, since we don’t have anyone on the other side.” Bow told them. “On three.”

“Can we go before three?” Sea Hawk asked.

“No. One,”

Mermista had to hold Sea Hawk back from going ahead of them.

“Two, three!”

“ _ Adventure _ !!” The guards were engulfed in plants, then knocked out by Sea Hawk, then dragged to where they couldn’t be seen by Bow and Mermista.

That had been… surprisingly easy. “Do you think we were too loud?” Bow asked the others.

“Nah.” Sea Hawk shook his head just before someone shouted from behind them.

“There are the rebel intruders!” Several soldiers appeared, surrounding them.

“Bow, now would be a good time to figure out how to open that door!” Mermista encouraged.

“Uh…” Bow looked behind him to see the door already opening. On the other side stood a Horde bot, much like the one Entrapta had reprogrammed the last time they were there…

“I don’t think that’s going to help much!” Bow yelped as the bot’s laser powered up. All four of them dodge or ducked as the bot fired- but not at them. Two Horde soldiers barely go out of the way to avoid getting fried.

“Get in!” A surprisingly familiar voice called from inside. “Emily won’t hurt you!”

“ _ ENTRAPTA _ ?!” Bow asked in shock.

“Yeah, come in!”

The four of them scrambled inside, still making a point of avoiding Emily, who was still keeping the soldiers at bay.

The door closed behind them when they were inside. A figure descended from a vent in the ceiling using long, purple hair.

“I knew you would come back!” Entrapta said in her usual excited voice.

“ _ Entrapta?! You’re ALIVE?! _ ” Perfuma asked.

“Of course I’m alive. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Um, you were, like, kind of  _ engulfed in green flames _ !”

“Oh, yeah! Well, Emily protected me!” Entrapta came down and patted the bot affectionately.

Bow still stood there in shock. Then he engulfed Entrapta in a hug. Perfuma apparently had the same idea, and they were quickly followed by Sea Hawk. Even Mermista joined.

“Woah, okay!” Entrapta said. “I’m, um, glad you’re all alive too.”

The group came out of the hug after a moment.

Entrapta scratched her head with her hair. “Wait a minute. If you guys thought I was dead, why’d you come back?”

The mood in the room quickly changed at those words.

“Glimmer and Adora,” Bow finally managed. “They didn’t make it out. We’re here to rescue them.”

“Well then, let’s go save them!” Entrapta said. She rushed past the other princesses, leaving the others left to follow.

_ Well that was… unexpected. This is great, though! Entrapta is alive! If the rest of our rescue mission goes this well… _

Catra approached her former best friend, who was sitting on the outlook platform above the Fright Zone just like they used to. Catra flinched at the sight of Adora standing there, as if nothing had changed. As if she hadn’t betrayed her and everyone she knew. Like she hadn’t gone gallivanting off to be with some new  _ best friends _ . Ugh.

Thankfully, Catra had a plan to fix everything.

“Hey, Adora.” she told her ex-best friend.

Adora glanced back at Catra. “Hey, Catra.”

The feline girl approached Adora and sat on the rail. “Feels good to be back, right?”

“Yeah.” Adora said, but she didn’t look at Catra when she said it. That had to be a good sign, right?

“Catra,” Adora said after a moment of quiet. “Is everything okay? With, you know, my return and all?”

That caught Catra off guard. “Yeah… why wouldn’t it be?”

“It’s just, I overheard what you told, um, what was her name, Scorpia?”

Well that was a problem. Catra very clearly remembered what she had told the Scorpia not even an hour ago.

Catra stormed down the Fright Zone corridor, fists clenched and a scowl prominent on her face. She wasn’t looking where she was going, and crashed right into someone as soon as she turned the corner.

“Oh my, I am so sorry!” The person in front of her said. It was Scorpia, the Force Captain who’d “bonded” with Catra while Adora was with the Rebellion.  _ While Adora was with the Rebellion.  _ Ugh, Catra couldn’t think of  _ anything _ without it coming back to Adora, couldn’t she?

“Are you okay?” Scorpia continued. “I-if I hurt you I can-“

“I’m fine, Scorpia.” Catra said through gritted teeth.

“Oh, that’s good. Hey, this is actually good because, well I was sort of looking for you.”

Catra groaned. “What is it?” she asked. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

Scorpia cleared her throat. “Well, I was sort of wondering, now that you’re not… you know…”

Catra clenched her fist harder.  _ Now that I’m not a Force Captain, I get it! _ she thought bitterly.

“… if maybe we could still hang out, since we kind of bonded before?”

Catra scoffed. “Yeah, sure. It’s not like there’s anyone else here I can  _ hang out _ with… or trust.” she muttered.

Scorpia finally seemed to pick up on Catra’s bad mood. “Hey, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Catra growled. “Now that  _ Adora’s _ back everything is  _ just fine _ .”

She should have had all the reasons to want Adora back. The two of them had been friends for their entire childhood. Catra had been devastated when she’d left, scratching out their drawings they’d made as kids and tearing her bed to tatters in a tearful rage. She  _ had _ wanted her to come back. She just wanted her best friend at her side again, like it had been before.

Now, Catra wanted Adora to  _ stay away _ for the same reasons she’s wanted her to come back before. She’d  _ left _ her! Abandoned her for a couple new friends and a sword!

The Sword… An idea began to form in Catra’s mind. One that included a certain item that had started all of this.

“Ooh, I know that look!” Scorpia said, snapping Catra out of her thoughts. “You’re coming up with something brilliant, aren’t you?”

“Maybe…” Catra mused. For the first time that day, she smiled.

“Really?” Catra asked. “How much of it did you hear?”

“Enough. Catra, did something happen while I was gone? Did… did I do something?”

_ Oh, great. Just great. _ Catra needed to come up with an excuse, fast.

“No, you didn’t.” she lied. “It’s just that,” Catra sighed. “Listen, you were taken by princesses. We don’t know what might’ve happened. Shadow Weaver may have erased your memory but, you know.”

“You don’t think-”

“Of course not. You’re Force Captain Adora, after all.” The words weren’t pleasant to say, but Catra was sure not to let it show. “C’mon.” she said, jumping down from the rail. “I wanna show you something.”

Adora smiled and followed her down the platform. The two of them hadn’t gotten far before Adora’s Force Captain badge crackled to life.

“All units prepare for a fight, rebels have infiltrated the Fright Zone!”

“Maybe later.” Adora told Catra before running ahead.

Catra let out a long groan. Why did those  _ princesses _ (if those were princesses that broke in) have to ruin everything?

Glimmer hated the Horde more than ever.

When she was young they’d taken her father’s life. They poisoned lands and burned down villages and terrorized innocent people. Now they’d taken one of her best friends from her and done  _ something _ to her powers so she couldn’t use them, which came with awful glitching.

Yeah, the Horde was definitely number one on her list of enemies (not that she had that many but whatever).

Once Shadow Weaver realized that Glimmer couldn’t use her powers, she’d moved her to a cell in the Fright Zone prison. A force field and metal walls kept her separated from the rest of the world. Next to the force field was a small keypad, probably so Horde officers or whoever could get out if they came in to interrogate her or something. She couldn’t reach it due to metal cuffs attached to her wrists connected to the far wall with some sort of glowing green line that seemed to be indestructible. Glimmer could only reach so far, and it wasn’t far enough to reach the keypad and escape.

It was a definite improvement from her last imprisonment, she’d take a cell over dark magic any day. Still, Glimmer couldn’t wait to get out and wipe that arrogant look from Shadow Weaver’s face- or whatever look she had beneath that mask.

Glimmer was busy contemplating how she’d single-handedly take down Shadow Weaver, Catra,  _ and _ Hordak for good measure when she got distracted by the sounds of several footsteps outside. She backed up and clenched her fists, ready for a fight.

A familiar face appeared on the other side of the force field. “Glimmer?” He pressed something beside her cell, and the green wall disappeared.

“Bow!” Glimmer was  _ so _ relieved to see her best friend she ran to meet him, only to get stopped by the green line. She groaned in frustration.

Bow came inside, then brought out an arrow and used it to remove the cuffs. Then the two friends hugged. Glimmer had missed the feeling of Bow’s strong arms wrapped around her. She felt safe in his embrace, and for a moment she forgot all about her problems, like being in the Fright Zone with her powers gone, or how they’d been on less-than-great terms with each other the last time they’d seen each other. All that mattered was that they were together again.

The feeling was quickly ruined by the glitching that came with the loss of her magic.

“Glimmer? Glimmer, what’s happening?” Bow asked nervously as the princess nearly slid out of his grasp.

Glimmer couldn’t respond until it stopped. She looked up at her friend’s face, he seemed so worried.

“Shadow Weaver,” she managed to say, “she did something to my powers and now  _ this _ keeps happening!”

Bow’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”

“There you are!” Mermista’s voice interrupted. The sea princess stood just outside the cell. “Come on, we need to hurry!”

Glimmer got to her feet.

“Glimmer, do you know where Adora is?” Bow asked her.

That made Glimmer flinch. “About that-”

“We need to get out of here!” Perfuma called from somewhere else. Glimmer felt a twinge of jealousy that she came here with Bow instead of her, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

“Can you tell us on the way?” Bow asked.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.” Bow took Glimmer’s hand and they hurried out to escape.

If they weren’t in the middle of the Fright Zone and had to avoid Horde soldiers at any moment, Bow might’ve been excited.

So far, the mission was going great. They’d found Entrapta who  _ wasn’t _ dead, and saved Glimmer. All they had to do was find and rescue Adora, then get out.

However, something told Bow they wouldn’t be as lucky with the next part. Glimmer’s expression when he asked about Adora didn’t bode well, and what happened to Glimmer… She hid it well but Bow knew her. She’d been in pain when the weird red glow had come, and couldn’t use her powers. Bow was ready to punch Shadow Weaver for what she’d done, but he couldn’t focus on that. They needed to find Adora and get her and Glimmer out of there.

“She won’t be in the prison.” Glimmer said as they ran. “Actually, she won’t even be their prisoner.”

“What are you talking about?” Bow asked. He was seriously worried about Adora’s fate, but she had to be alive, right?

Glimmer was clearly having trouble telling them. “She- she doesn’t remem-”

The group turned a corner and stopped in their tracks. Someone stopped not far in front of them.

She raised her hand to where a Force Captain badge was pinned to a red jacket. She pressed the badge, which crackled to life, then spoke into it.

“I’ve found the rebel intruders.” Then she brought out and extended a staff, preparing for a fight.

Throughout all of this Bow didn’t move or speak, just stood there in shock.

Because the person standing there, was  _ Adora _ .


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight ensues, and it isn't doesn't turn out well for either side.

Adora readied her staff. In front of her stood about six rebels. There was a boy with a bow on his back and wearing crop top armor (which seemed kind of impractical, but Adora wasn’t going to question how a rebel dressed). Holding his hand was a girl that honestly didn’t look that good. She wore a purple dress that looked like it had once been meant for something special, but had gone through a battle she’d lost. There was also a girl in a pink dress with flowers in her hair, a girl in all blues and teals, some guy who dressed like a pirate, a girl with  _ really  _ long purple hair, and… was that a Horde bot? One that wasn’t attacking them? It must’ve been broken or malfunctioning.

The girl in purple looked to be the weakest of the group. The one with flowers didn’t look like much of a fighter. Adora would probably want to focus most on Crop Top Boy, or Blue-And-Teal Girl during the fight. Something was off, though. The way they looked at her-

“Adora?” Crop Top Boy asked. “What are you doing?!”

Adora wasn’t expecting that. A vicious fight, one soldier against six rebels, yes. That? No. Adora blinked in surprise, then tightened her grip on her staff. “How do you know my name?” she asked.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Crop Top Boy had the audacity to sound surprised. “It’s me, Bow! And Glimmer and-”

“I don’t know you!” Adora interrupted. “What are you doing in the Fright Zone-”

Adora stopped, and looked at the girl holding Crop Top Boy’s hand. She remembered what Shadow Weaver told her, about a prisoner in the Fright Zone that was there thanks to Adora, one she’d taken down when…

“You’re the rebels from Thaymor!” She said aloud.

“Yes! Wait, why-” He didn’t get to finish before Adora attacked.

She swung her staff towards Crop Top Boy, who barely got out of the way in time. In the process he let go of the princess’s hand, who back away from Adora but brought her hands into fists.

Adora just managed to avoid a spout of water that shot at her from behind- wait how?

“Adora, we’re your friends!” Flower Girl pleaded. “Why are you doing this?”

“What are you talking about?” Adora demanded. She pretended to go for Flower Girl, then swirled around and thrust at Blue-And-Teal Girl as she summoned more water from a nearby pipe.

Adora’s staff was knocked out of her hand by Pirate Guy, with a sword with a golden-yellow blade.

Thankfully reinforcements came just then, and the rebels were soon surrounded.

Bow didn’t understand why Adora was suddenly against them. She acted like all of the time she’d spent with Bow and Glimmer and the Rebellion hadn’t happened. Except she’d identified them as “the rebels from Thaymor”, though she’d said it almost… like she’d been on the other side at Thaymor.

What had happened to Adora?

The fight had emerged into a full-on battle. Beside Bow, Glimmer was doing pretty well considering she didn’t have her powers. She punched and dodged soldiers, though it was clear she wished she could use her magic. Her fists clenched in the same way they did when she summoned her sparkles, and her movements weren’t as smooth as they would be if she could teleport. Still, she held her own and didn’t hesitate, which was just like Glimmer.

Sea Hawk and Mermista fought side-by-side, Sea Hawk with his saber and Mermista using nearby water sources- so mainly the sewer system.

“I did  _ not _ swim through  _ this _ for nothing!” She shouted as she shot another mini geyser at another soldier.

Entrapta was… well, being Entrapta. She mostly just hovered above the battle using her hair, rigging nearby devices to help the others. She spoke quickly into her recorder as she did so, but it eventually fell and got lost in the chaos. Emily protected her as she did this using her lasers. The Horde soldiers were clearly confused as to why one of their own robots was attacking them.

Perfuma was mainly focused on Adora. A vine grew and forced the staff out of Adora’s hands, but she could fight just as well without it. Perfuma was persistently pleading with Adora.

“Adora, we are your friends.” Perfuma said. “You helped save my kingdom, remember? You’re the She-Ra.” This last word was said as she deflected a strike.

“You seriously expect me to believe that?” Adora responded. Still, Bow realized something Perfuma has said had gotten to her. She’d flinched when Perfuma had mentioned saving the kingdom. After She-Ra was mentioned she backed away from her attack and brought a hand to her head like she’d gotten a headache. This didn’t last very long, and soon she was back to fighting.

Bow reached back and realized he’d run out of arrows. Before he could move, a shout rang in the air.

“ _ How dare you?! That’s it! _ ” A loud voice, belonging to Mermista, pierced the air.

The next few minutes happened in a blur. Everything nearby, including everyone in the fight, was surrounded by dirty water. Bow held his breath and closed his eyes as he was swept away by the current it brought.

Not long after, the water subsided, and Bow found himself able to breath again.

“Gross,” someone groaned.

“Now you people know what it feels like.”

“Bow?”

“Glimmer? I’m here.”

“Emily? Oh, there you are, girl.”

“Quick! Everyone to the vehicle bay!”

The princesses, pirate, archer, and robot all made it out of the Fright Zone in one piece. Of course, they were all drenched in sewer water, Emily was slightly waterlogged (nothing Entrapta couldn’t fix but the bot kept acting weird), Sea Hawk had gotten a small arm injury (which Glimmer was willing to bet anything it was the reason Mermista went off like that), and they were still missing one member of their team. That last bit was probably the worst part, especially considering what’d just happened back at the Fright Zone.

Glimmer wasn’t looking forward to explaining what happened to Adora.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that one was shorter than the others (only 1019 words...), I hope the quality is good enough to make up for it.


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora is gets frustrated at herself for losing the battle.  
> Glimmer returns to Bright Moon.

Adora spat sewer water out of her mouth ( _ gross! _ ) and looked around what was previously a battle zone. All soldiers were down, the rebels were nowhere to be seen, and everything nearby was absolutely soaked. This had probably been the fastest, and most disgusting, battle she’d ever been in (technically the only real battles she’d been in she had no recollection of, but the point still stood).

“What did I-”

Adora looked behind her to see Catra standing in shock at the scene.

“Actually, I don’t want to know.” Catra backed away, something which Adora wouldn’t blame her for even if she didn’t know about her dislike for water in general.

Adora got up and commanded the rest of the soldiers to get clean, then back to their stations. She herself was going to do the same.

“I’ve gotta go.” Adora told her friend.

“Sure.” Catra replied, keeping a good amount of space between the two as Adora left.

Adora hit the punching bag hanging in her barracks. Each hit produced a hard  _ whap _ sound as her fit met the stiff surface.

Her  _ (whap) _ first  _ (whap)  _ battle  _ (whap) _ (that she could remember anyways)  _ (whap) _ was  _ (whap) _ a  _ (whap)  _ big  _ failure _ !

With a grunt of frustration, Adora reeled back and kicked the side with much more force than she anticipated, and missed. She sucked in a breath and gently held her ankle. Hopefully that wouldn’t bruise.

Adora took a deep breath and leaned against the punching bag.

“It’s one battle.” she told herself. “You’ll have plenty more to prove yourself, right? I mean, you won the other ones you were in.”

“I don’t think that punching bag has any victories to it’s name.”

Adora whirled around. Catra leaned against the side of the doorway, a smirk on her face.

“Oh, hey Catra.” Adora brought her hands up to tighten her ponytail, which had begun to come loose from the practice. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough.” She stood and gestured behind her. So do you still want me to show you-”

“Oh, right!” She’d totally spaced about that. “Yeah, lead the way.”

“Glimmah!”

Queen Angella ran over to where her daughter entered the castle with the rest of the Princess Alliance. Glimmer braced herself for her mother’s stifling embrace.

“Are you alright?! Are you hurt? Oh, I’ve been worried sick! How did you escape? You- you usually teleport out of my embraces. What happened?”

“Mom, cut it out.” Glimmer ducked out of the hug. “I’m fine. I’m just, tired is all.”

The queen finally backed off slightly and nodded. “Of course, you must be after all you've been through.” Then she looked back at her friends. For some reason, everyone joined Glimmer in avoiding visual contact. (Of course, this didn’t apply to Entrapta, who was focused on repairing Emily.)

“You disobeyed my orders.” Ah, that would explain it. Glimmer had several times been on the other end of ignoring her mom’s commands.

“However, you were able to rescue my daughter, and for that I forgive you. Just this once.” she added that last sentence for emphasis. “And, thank you. I see that Entrapta is alive as well.”

At that, the purple-haired princess glanced away from the bot, quickly giving a happy wave before returning to her tinkering.

The rest of the alliance said their formalities before leaving, including the purple-haired princess on a now fixed Emily. Glimmer could lowkey hear Mermista scolding Sea Hawk to be careful with his arm (she really did care even if she pretended that she didn’t).

Bow placed a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, and the two exchanged a pained look. They knew what came next.

Glimmer had told him and the others what Shadow Weaver had done to Adora on the way to Bright Moon. All of the princesses had been shocked by the news

“I notice Adora is not with you.” Glimmer’s mother said, sadness in her voice.

Glimmer’s eyes were glued to the pastel-colored floor. Before she could say anything, she shouted as another glitch came over her. Bow supported her so she wouldn’t fall.

“Glimmah? Glimmer!” The queen came and wrapped her arms around her daughter. “What is happening?”

“Back in the Fright Zone,” Bow began to explain as the glitching stopped, “Shadow Weaver’s magic cursed her and now this keeps-”

“Bow!” Glimmer scolded. She had wanted to keep that secret from her mother until she could stop it (not that it could’ve been after that anyway).

“What?” Queen Angella asked in shock. “How did this happen?”

Gimmer groaned. “That doesn’t matter! Plus, I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t be fixed by recharging at the Moonstone, right?”

Angella gave her daughter a worried look. “Alright.” she turned her gaze towards Bow. “Then you two will fill me in on everything that happened.”

Glimmer’s mother gently carried her (“I can walk!”), and flew her to the Moonstone to recharge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, super short, sorry :( . I'm working on it, I promise.


	6. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing's going as it should... and Adora knows something's wrong.

“What is this?”

“A sword, duh.”

“Ha ha.” Adora said without humor. “I mean, why is this important?”

“This is what we got when we rescued you. Other than that escaped princess, obviously. Apparently it’s a magical princess weapon, that can only be used by someone who isn’t born a princess. Isn’t that crazy?” Catra asked, smug as ever.

“That is kinda weird.” Adora reached to grab the hilt of the sword that lay on the table. The second her finger made contact, the gem on the hilt started glowing.

“What the-” in an instant blue light overwhelmed her senses.

“ _ Adora. _ ” A strangely familiar voice said in her mind. “ _ You must regain- _ ”

The blue light turned black. Searing pain ripped through her head, and Adora felt herself make contact with the floor.

“Hey, Adora? What happened?”

“Uugh…” Adora’s eyes fluttered open. Catra’s face leaned close to hers, her blue and yellow eyes gazing at her in concern.

“Huh, what… what happened?”

“You touched the sword then just, collapsed.” Catra moved aside so Adora could stand back up. She was a little shaky and had to hold the edge of the table to keep upright. The sword’s blue blade and gen seemed to stare at her tauntingly. Daring her to touch it again.

She didn’t.

“Why did you show me this?” Adora asked, looking back at her friend.

“I thought you’d be interested. Maybe you don’t remember, but you were the one who retrieved this from the princesses. Figured you’d be interested.”

She’d gotten this from her captors? Shadow Weaver had said if she remembered what had happened her mind would have broken. Was this sword, connected somehow?

Had she almost remembered what she’d been through?

“I need to go. Thanks, though.”

“Okay, where are you going?”

“I just need some time alone.” No sooner were the words out of her mouth that she left.

Catra’s plan must have been working. The Sword had seemed to awaken something. It was only a matter of time before Adora… left again.

Catra’s smug smile dropped at that thought. She actually  _ wanted _ her gone this time. Shouldn’t she feel better about this?

That night, Adora’s dreams were no better than her day had gone. Maybe that was to be expected. Her friends didn’t trust her like they did before, she failed to stop the escape of several princesses, and then there was the whole thing with the sword. It only made sense her sleep would be restless.

She dreamt of the disappointment and disapproval of Shadow Weaver, Hordak, even Catra.  _ “Some force captain you are. You get captured by freaking princesses, then you’re weak after seeing some sword? I don’t even know why we’re friends.” _

Eventually, all of that stopped. Adora was standing on blackness, nothing visible for as far as she could see. Somehow the nothingness was… thick. Almost suffocating.

“Uh, hello?” she said breathily, and hesitantly. “Where am I?”

She was drawn by the sound of someone struggling. She slowly turned around, which was difficult with her surroundings- of lack of.  _ This isn’t confusing at all, it’s fine. You’ve delt with worse _ , she thought, hoping that would help (even though it was an obvious lie).

“Adora?” called something- or someone. A hand poked out from darkness. Another came from beside it. They grasped something on the sides, and pushed through a layer of darkness, and Adora could finally see who they were. They were tall, so that under normal circumstances she would’ve had to crane her neck to look them in the eye. They had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail with… was that the same hair poof Adora had?! She was almost glowing, gold light contrasting greatly with the blackness surrounding everything.

“Who… who are you?” Adora asked, her voice quavering.

The figure looked Adora right in the eyes as she answered, intense blue eyes filled with worry. “I’m you.”

The golden glow got brighter, until Adora had to cover her eyes. When it was safe to look again, she wished she hadn’t.

In front of Adora, stood  _ Adora _ .

The real Adora backed away in fear. “What’s going on? Who are y-yo-” her questions were interrupted by coughing. She couldn’t breath. Adora closed her eyes, which began to water as she gasped for air.

Strong hands held the sides of her arms. Adora opened her eyes in surprise. The second Adora kept her intense gaze on the real Adora’s. Was she, fading? She was starting to turn just a little transparent at the edges.

“Listen,” the second Adora said forcefully. “You don’t belong in the Fright Zone. You need to leave. You need to-”

Adora shot up in bed. She was still surrounded by darkness and- nope, she was in her barrack. It was dark because it was the middle of the night. She wasn’t in danger. So why did she feel like she’d seen a ghost?

Once again, she didn’t remember what she could’ve dreamt up that made her this… scared. 

She took a second to catch her breath. Hair fell in her face as she panted, like she had been holding her breath for too long. Yup, she was certain about it.

Something was really, seriously wrong. Adora just didn’t know what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, again. I have nothing to say except my life has been very stressful and busy so I haven't been able to write much until recently. Thanks for reading and sticking with this story still. At this point I'm just glad I was able to get another chapter done. 😅


End file.
